ARCHEOLOGIA DEI PAESAGGI IN ETÀ ANTICA TRA AGRI E SINNI. LE RICOGNIZIONI NELLA CHORA DI HERAKLEIA (2012-2019)

The study focuses attention on the chora of Herakleia, the subject of the reconnaissance project of the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage of Matera, carried out in close collaboration with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Basilicata. It returns new data every year, adding important pieces to our knowledge of the chora of one of the most prosperous Greek colonies in the Magna Graecia territory. In surface archaeological research traditional methods have been applied in the field alongside more recent techniques. The computerization of the data in a dedicated database and the computer processing process in a GIS environment, structured specifically for the needs of the project, were fundamental for the management and overall interpretation of spatial and archaeological data. Here we present an overall reading of the data collected to date. In reading the territory through the data presented here, it is essential to consider that the data are still partial, since the Herakleia survey project has not yet been completed, but that in any case refer to a very large part of the area covered by the survey, which allows, therefore, to hypothesize an "average trend" of land occupation. The work is presented by dividing the paper into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the general framework of the area from a geographical and settlement point of view; the first chapter describes the geography and the environment in which the colony is inserted: the morphological system of the colony of Herakleia is outlined, its specific physical-geomorphological, hydrographic and geological characteristics, as well as the spontaneous vegetation characteristics and the current use of the soil. We then proceed with a chapter in which a brief examination of the settlement dynamics of Basilicata is expounded, and then a focus on the colony of Siris-Herakleia through the analysis of ancient sources and a presentation of the history of the studies, as well as of the characteristics archaeological-settlement of the urban center and the chora. The second consists of all the land, suitable for agricultural exploitation, on which the city depended for its livelihood, directly, with the consumption of products, and indirectly, for the development of commercial activities generated in part also by the sale of the surplus. This part of the territory was divided into kleroi, assigned to individual citizens: the act of subdivision of the land was public and took place at the time of the foundation of the apoikìa, representing "... one of the constitutive acts of the birth of a new community ...". In the second part the strategy, the research method and the documentation techniques in the field are then explained. Over the last few decades, the surface archaeological survey has become an indispensable tool for studying the distribution and typology of ancient sites in order to understand the evolution of settlements and territories: even within its limits, it constitutes a large container of information, whose critical analysis allows us to envisage a panorama of the population trends of the territories. The system adopted for the classification of Topographical Units is also explained, through the description of the typological criteria. The second chapter contains the analytical part, dedicated to the catalog of known sites falling within the area affected by our surveys and to the catalog of Topographic Units, containing the new data that emerged during the survey, i.e. the consequential display of the UT data sheets. The catalogue cards show the data for each Topographic Unit found, summarized on the basis of specific items: definition, location and coordinates, dimensions, altitude, type and use of land, vegetation and degree of visibility, method applied, density, brief description, chronology and possible bibliography. Each Topographic Unit card is accompanied by a table relating to the materials found. The third part of the work follows, in which, starting from the elaboration of the available archaeological documentation, the results are outlined by proceeding by "periods" of attendance, use of Topographic Units and types of contexts, from the Neolithic to the Imperial Age. Later, in the chapter of the concluding remarks, the historical-settlement evolution of the Heracleota chora is discussed. Finally, the appendix describes the preliminary stages of a project aimed at identifying evidence of ancient agricultural crops. The project, in fact, has turned in two directions: alongside the carrying out of the archaeological reconnaissance of the surface, which represent the main purpose of the work, "botanical reconnaissance" was carried out, proceeding with the recovery of the wrecks of grapevines. It is an experimental method, built and adapted from time to time, in continuous development. The vine samples found were collected and analyzed with the help of experts in agronomy, applying the techniques of ampelography and geometric morphometry applied to samples of leaves and seeds, in order to make comparisons with seeds from archaeological layers of sites more or less close to Herakleia.